Synopsis: Diana Moore is 33 and about, so her Aunt Margaret predicts, to have the best three years she's ever had. Which is a relief since tomorrow she's facing The Biggest Day of her Life so far. A friend's wedding, to which her ex (aka The Monster) complete with New Girlfriend, is also invited. And Diana, brown of hair, nine of foot and wide of thigh is going - alone. But somehow Aunt Margaret's got it wrong. And next day all thoughts of weddings, exes and New Girlfriends seem absurdly irrelevant. For Diana is really alone. The car containing her mother, father and only brother has collided with a large truck on a small road. And from that moment on everything she's know is changed. Including Diana...Review: This was a bit of a book of two halves and the first half I really enjoyed. Diana is steeling herself to attend a wedding of some so called friends who think it's about time she moved on and started socialising with her ex and his impossibly gorgeous girlfriend. There's lots of self deprecation, sarcasm and Bridget Jones style humour and even when tragedy strikes and Diana .. at 33 .. is left an orphan, there's plenty of wry observational humour mixed in with the pathos.
'Tomorrow, I will embody what it means to be aging gracefully. I will be the perfect single guest. I will be the Katharine Hepburn (at thirty three not eighty) of the wedding. I am going alone. And I am not allowing myself one second of self-deprecation. Not one second. Affirmations and visuals. I am Elizabeth Bennett in Pride and Prejudice. I am Bette Davis in All About Eve. I am anyone at all, but me, Diana Moore, brown of hair, nine of shoe and wide of thigh.'
There is a realness to the writing and a warmth about Diana that makes you take to her within about two pages. She has an alter ego which she calls 'Foxhole Girl' ... this is her true self buried deep beneath her public persona (or 'Smiling Idiot' as Diana refers to herself .. she's too willing to please and bend to other people's wishes) and it's Diana's fear that 'Foxhole Girl' will always remain buried.
With her friends and extended family trying their best to support her and stop her being eaten by alsatians (they don't actually say that, that would be plagiarism,) Diana feels stifled and she takes herself off on a roadtrip of sorts. It's here that she meets Louisa, who in contrast to Diana is a thoroughly unlikeable self absorbed character, I found myself irritated by her and the story went off in unenjoyable directions that seemed a bit clichéd. I did love all the descriptions of the New Jersey cranberry bogs though, I could really envisage the beauty of the place. It's not Proust but it's not lightweight either .. although I think I've managed to make it sound as if it is. For the most part it was very enjoyable and funny.
With her friends and extended family trying their best to support her and stop her being eaten by alsatians (they don't actually say that, that would be plagiarism,) Diana feels stifled and she takes herself off on a roadtrip of sorts. It's here that she meets Louisa, who in contrast to Diana is a thoroughly unlikeable self absorbed character, I found myself irritated by her and the story went off in unenjoyable directions that seemed a bit clichéd. I did love all the descriptions of the New Jersey cranberry bogs though, I could really envisage the beauty of the place. It's not Proust but it's not lightweight either .. although I think I've managed to make it sound as if it is. For the most part it was very enjoyable and funny. 
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